This invention relates generally to frames for mounting and displaying decorative fabric sheets, and more particularly to a frame assembly constituted by mitered pieces of extruded molding whose corners are joined together by snap-in elements, the pieces having internal storage channels which are accessible through inlet jaws that receive the margins of the sheet.
The field of decorative textiles has a long history. Thus ancient Chinese tapestries (K'o ssu) were made of light, thin silk, often interwoven with gold thread. In traditional tapestries, the design or picture is woven into the body of the fabric. The modern practice in creating decorative fabrics of linen, silk or any other textile yarn is to use silk-screen printing techniques.
In displaying a decorative fabric material such as a needlepoint fabric, one is usually faced with a mounting problem; for while one can freely suspend the fabric from a wall molding, this usually results in creases and folds that are aesthetically displeasing. It is therefore the present practice to mount the fabric under tension over a stretcher frame whereby the mounted fabric may then be placed and displayed at any desired site on a wall. It is important that the stretcher frame be adequately reinforced; for any warpage of the frame will be reflected in the fabric.
The present practice requires a fair degree of professional skill, for one must construct a reinforced stretcher frame in dimensions appropriate to the size of the fabric sheet to be mounted and then carefully attach the margins of the fabric to the frame pieces. This is no simple matter; for not only is it necessary to hammer in tacks or staples at closely spaced points along the frame pieces, but one must exercise care in seeing to it that the fabric is under uniform tension, for otherwise the decorative pattern or picture printed or otherwise created on the fabric surface will be distorted.
Hence it has heretofore not been possible for the ordinary householder or do-it-yourself worker of limited skill to successfully mount fabric sheets.